It is the present commercial practice to supply most normally gaseous materials in a compressed form contained in a steel cylinder. This is particularly true of the flammable and explosive gases such as ethylene and other olefinic gases. The cumbersome and unwieldy steel cylinders pose problems other than that which is obvious by reason of their weight. Cost and the requirement for storage of the tanks have plagued the user who has had no available alternative.
The problem of supplying ethylene in convenient form is particularly a problem in the fruit industry wherein ethylene is used to assist in the ripening of fruits for the commercial market. Ethylene gas is well known to be used to initiate the ripening of various fruits such as bananas, tomatoes, honeydews, pears, avocados as well as degreen citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons as well as being used in the fields of tomato and pecan groves for example.
Ethylene is also used in oxyethylene welding and cutting of various metals which again requires the containment of the ehtylene in steel cylinders.